1. Empiricism vs. Solipsism
The Final Act of Grendel

2. Defined
Empiricism is the philosophical idea that the source of all knowledge comes from direct experience with an external reality.
Think about science– we call science “empirical” because it studies only phenomena that can be observed in nature.
Thus, empiricism is the opposite of solipsism, which claims that anything outside the mind cannot be known.

3. In Gardner’s Words…
About the last chapter Gardner says, "Grendel begins to apprehend the universe. Poetry is an accident, the novel says, but it's a great one.”

4. Applying to Grendel
Towards the beginning of the novel, Grendel is solipsistic– remember the “only I exist!” from Chapter Two?
In this final chapter, however, Grendel encounters Beowulf (the empiricist).
Does Grendel die a solipsist, or does he become an empiricist convert? Why or why not?
In reflecting upon Gardner’s words, how does Grendel “begin to apprehend the universe” at the end and what does any of this have to do with poetry?